Firms may be given payroll autonomy: deputy minister

Firms may be given payroll autonomy: deputy minister By Thuy Dung A dialogue between Korean enterprises and the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs – PHOTO: THUY DUNG HANOI – The Labor Code will be amended to allow enterprises, including State-owned ones, to choose their payroll systems, said Doan Mau Diep, deputy minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. At a dialogue between Korean enterprises and the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, held in Hanoi on August 9, Diep said the State will gradually reduce its intervention in the payroll policies of enterprises. Employees’ salaries will be determined based on negotiations with their employers, in line with market forces, he added. Under the current regulations, the difference between two consecutive wage grades must be at least 5%, while the lowest wage grade applicable to laborers doing jobs that require training must be at least 7% higher than the region-based minimum wage. In addition, the wage level applicable to hazardous and dangerous jobs must be at least 5-7% higher than that of laborers working under normal conditions. At the dialogue, Mai Duc Thien, deputy director of the Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that the draft of the amended Labor Code includes new regulations on salary calculation. A region-based minimum wage will ensure minimum living standards for workers and their families, based on relevant factors such as the state of the labor market and socioeconomic development progress. According… [Read full story]